Exercising Agency, Becoming a Single Mother

Decision-Making Processes of Unmarried Women

Bibliographic Data

ID11220941
AuthorsSusanna Jones (Long Island University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume42
Issue4
Pages35-61
Publication date2008-01-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMarriage & Family Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0149-4929 • E-ISSN: 1540-9635
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j002v42n04_03
OpenAlexW2105108716
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited15

Single motherhood is on the rise and an increasing number of single mothers are never married. This has contributed to the crisis rhetoric surrounding the decline of the traditional family. A plethora of research has been conducted with a variety of subgroups of single mothers, but virtually no research has examined the lives of never married, single mothers, who are neither poor nor middle class, but economically fall in between. Drawing on data from qualitative interviews with this subgroup, the article examines their decision-making processes. The findings of this study reveal various factors that helped the women make decisions showing how the process is more complex than previously suggested in the literature. Interestingly, the women articulate a comfort zone of single motherhood that is unparallel to other groups of single mothers. Concepts of agency, autonomy, pride, and self-reliance are crucial to understanding their process of decision making

Agency (philosophy · Autonomy · Developmental psychology · Political science · Pride · Qualitative research · Rhetoric · Single mothers · Social science · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Psychology